Dancing
by andy kay
Summary: Eli and Grace have been dancing around themselves for so long. What will it take for them to finally listen to each other and their own hearts? How much will it take? E/G centric-fic. T for now, may raise in later chapters.


I've been in serious writer's block as of late. But recent inspiration has driven me back into the arms of fanfiction. I've written many chapters of various Eli/Grace storylines, but found I was unable to cohesively tie them together. I'm not great with one-shots, but these "chapters" seem stand alone, so that's what I'm going to go with. Most of my inspiration comes from music, so you'll find that I include music often. I mean no copywritten offense, and I claim no rights to anything. Now that I have the legalities out of the way, on with the story!

Eli drummed his fingers against the bar, tapping his fingers in tune with the hip-hop playing lightly through the speakers. He took another sip of the amber liquid, wincing as the whiskey burned his throat. The bar wasn't even busy yet, and he was drowning his sorrows. Eli wondered briefly when whiskey became his drink of choice, and when he suddenly found solace in music he wasn't at all a fan of in any way.

"Hey, Eli, man, how'd it go?" Eli's best friend and former band mate, Coop clapped him on the back in greeting.

"Fantastic, obviously, Coop," he replied, letting the sarcastic tone rip through just enough to make the younger man cower slightly.

"So, they're not going for your idea then?"

"I thought if there was one thing I could do, it was sell them this. Music's what I do, man, but to have a fifty year old man tell me I don't know what appeals..."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm running in a freaking circle here, Coop. I mean, what have I become?"  
"An ad executive that drives a kickass car and makes more in a week than I do a year?" Coop responded, motioning the bartender for a beer.

"Yeah, and who can't sell a band to a group of drunk college kids. God, I was one of them less than three years ago, and now..."

"You work with a bunch of stuffed shirts. You were probably right, I'm sure. Maybe this vacation will be good for you. I mean, Australia: beautiful women, sweet waves, and, did I mention, _beautiful_ women?"

"Yeah. And my father, younger sister, stepmother, baby brother..."

"Yeah, I remember the house, Eli. _All _of it."

"I bet you do," Eli grinned at his friend.

"Shut up, your step-mom was _hot_, dude, and you know it. I'd still-"

"No! Just, ew, no, man."  
"Speaking of hotties in the house, anybody else gonna be at this event?" Coop asked, hinting not-so-subtly at the appearance of the one girl they never really talked about. Maybe because they had both secretly competed for her affections in college.

"Yeah, Grace will be there, I'm sure. She _did_ just graduate. I'm sure she'll want to join in on the festivities."

"How is she?"

"She's good. Jessie said she broke up with that Mark guy finally."  
"Good. I didn't like him."  
"Of course not. She blew you off for him." Coop grinned at Eli's shot.

"She blew _us_ off for him. You wanted her too, man. And, man, what the hell are they playing in here? _Justin Timberlake_, _really_?" Eli almost spit out his drink at his friend's randomness. Then he noticed the song playing.

"I don't know, kind of fits. I toyed with Grace's heart for years. Even if I didn't realize I was doing, and when we finally got a shot, she ripped mine to pieces. What goes around, comes around, man."  
"In your defense, she slept with another guy while you thought you were in a relationship. In her defense, you screwed her best friend while she was in love with you."  
"Valid points. But, I _dated_ Carla because I liked her. I didn't know Grace had feelings for me," at Coop's pointed look, he continued "well, _really_ know anyway. I thought it was a crush."

"Yeah, and you two danced around her while her heart broke," Coop continued, ignoring Eli's glare in his direction.

"_But_, you did go after too."  
"I had a brief crush on a girl in my Lit class. Not my fault it happened to be _your stepsister_."

"Ouch. Throw that curveball in there, thanks."

"Had I known you were in love with her - _Had you said just once_ that you wanted Grace Manning, man, I would have been your wingman in a heartbeat. But you didn't. I had no idea. I'm a pretty clueless guy when it comes to women-"

"True," Eli interjected, smiling at the glare Coop sent his way.

"As I was saying, _but_, I'm good at being the wingman. However, if you will look at my hand here. Yes, you'll see the gold band, the one that says I conned a _gorgeous_ woman into marrying me. A gorgeous woman that is also smart, can name the best bands in history _in the correct order_, and enjoys burgers. You tell me I suck with women."  
"Yeah, rub it in. No, seriously, you and Sheila work. I won't lie. And I suck more with women apparently."  
"Traci not call you back?"  
"_Terri. _And no. Not surprising, since I took two phone calls in the middle of our dinner date that I showed up late for, and failed to mention was formal attire."

"Maybe you'll meet a hottie in Australia?"

"That's what I'm afraid of, Coop. But, I'm gonna go. I got a flight early tomorrow morning out of O'Hare early tomorrow morning. I wanted to get to Australia early to surprise Dad and Lily. I'm gonna catch a few z's before then." Eli slapped a bill on the bar, motioning to the bartender that he was picking up the tab, and patted Coop on the back.

"Tell her I said hi!" Coop yelled after his best friend, ignoring the finger gesture he got in return.

So, this started as a one-shot, but I think I'm gonna turn it into a multi chapter feature. I'm actually working on a companion piece, several actually, that tell the backstory I allude to in this feature here.

Please, review. Without your feedback I don't know if I'm heading in the direction you want, and whether or not I should continue. Secondly, keep your eyes out for those companion pieces, they'll be sort of prologues to this, from different points of view basically.

REVIEW! Thanks so much!


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